For me there is a power, something special about Denali. I don’t really know what it is but Denali is different from any other place I have visited. Perhaps it’s the allure of the mountain but I don’t care to climb it. I want to see it yes, but I have no interest in climbing it or even touching it. Mount McKinley is the tallest mountain in North America at 20,320 and it is still growing taller by about a millimeter a year. Measured from the 2,000 foot lowlands the mountain’s vertical relief is 18,000 feet, which is greater than Mount Everest. Native Alaskans call it ‘the high one’. And if you see it you’ll agree that it is impressive. But actually seeing it may not happen during your visit to Denali. Only about 30% of the visitors to park get to see the entire mountain because it’s usually hidden by clouds. Yes, we saw it, bright, clear, covered in white ice and snow, spectacular, massive, and yes the high one. Denali is different than many of our National Parks in the Lower 48, and many of our state and municipal parks that are being loved to death, over run with far too many people and more vehicles than the facilities can accommodate and poorly maintained. It is very well maintained, at least what I saw. The camping areas are nice, very well designed allowing room for RV’s and tents alike and the sites are level and oriented properly for easy access to the restrooms and their public transportation. Alas, that many of other parks could not have had such foresight.

There are six camping areas in Denali, of which three accept RV’s. As most outsourced campsite reservations systems, these private companies require an advanced three day minimum reservation and charge a reservation fee. We had hoped to camp a little further into the interior at Teklanika River campground which is located 30 miles from the park entrance and is the farthest campground in the park that accommodates RV’s. But to be guaranteed a site, we had to settle for Riley Creek campground near the park entrance or chance a site being available when we arrived, or using a commercial campground outside the park. Riley Creek was very nice but it wasn’t the wilderness we experienced last time at Teklanika. I was impressed that a uniformed Park Ranger walked the camping area in the early evening and invited visitors to the interpretative program that evening. That’s the way it should be done.

The 92 mile long park road into the interior is restricted beyond mile 15. For $34/day, a concession bus tour provides a 66 mile roundtrip ride into the park’s main visitor center and the only way to see Denali unless you want to hike or fly in. By restricting travel to meet certain management parameters and objectives, this destination park is made accessible to the masses of park visitors that seek the grandeur of this park. The bus transportation system is what protects this park from being loved to death and at the same time makes it accessible to everyone. At least a small fraction is accessible to everyone, unless you want to hike into the back country or just off the road a short distance. In places the gravel road is cut into the side of the mountain, it’s very narrow and has sheer drop-offs, and best of all; it affords us opportunities to view wildlife across great expanses of Alaskan wilderness. We enjoyed watching caribou, and several brown bears which are accustomed to the buses and will remain within easy viewing and photographic distances. While at the park’s concession paying for our campsite, I had the opportunity to meet three Rangers working on a maintenance project in front of the concession. Two of the rangers were seasonal and the other permanent. All three were interested in learning about PLEA, and something about our southern parks. They were a pleasure to visit with and I’m sure looking for an alternate placement for the winter season. It was interesting to learn that while the seasonal rangers had housing provided, the other ranger did not. He was renting a small place outside the park that didn’t even have plumbing, and it’s only 150 miles one way to go shopping at Fairbanks! While in the concession I thought I would compare prices of what they were charging for everyday items: six pack of beer was $9.59 and a small bundle of firewood $9.99. Are these reasonable prices to charge park visitors, what do you think?

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As we travel our world visiting parks, meeting others in our profession and introducing them to the benefits of the Park Law Enforcement Association. We'll share adventures by way of this blog.. Please check back from time to time to see what we have been up to.. Oh, and plesae leave a comment so I know someone is enjoying these....